In the late 1800s the Royal Navy reigned supreme. The naval construction
infrastructure was far more advanced and far larger than every other country. In
addition to building warships for the Royal Navy, British shipyards built ships
for other countries throughout the world. Armstrong developed a protected
cruiser design that was one of the leading export cruisers of the age. This was
the famous Elswick cruiser, variations of which were purchased by many different
countries, including the United States and Japan. With the dawn of the 20th
century other countries had developed their naval construction industry to such
a degree, that they too joined the warship export market peddling their designs
that didnít have the capacity to build modern warships or to countries that
had already utilized all of their native industry in warship construction but
wanted to increase their fleet even further, such as Imperial Russia.

This arms emporium reached its zenith on the eve of World War One. The US
built battleships for Argentina and sold two predreadnoughts to Greece, Britain
built battleships for Brazil, and was building battleships for Chile and Turkey
as well as a battlecruiser for Japan, and Germany was building a battlecruiser
for Greece. All of this came to an end in August 1914 when the combatant
countries needed all of the warships that they could get. There were a few
export warships built between the two world wars but nothing near the tempo that
existed prior to the First World War, primarily because of the terrible
financial condition of most countries as a result of the world wide depression
as well as effects of the Washington and London Treaties on naval arms
control.

Plan & Profile

A nation could benefit by having their private naval yards build designs for
other navies. Not only did it create jobs but also the jobs created were
specialized ones that would increase the trained labor force that could be used
for their own navies. The naval construction industry stayed large and viable
without large subsidies from their home country. New ideas and experiments could
be first tried out on designs for foreign buyers without the home navy rolling
the dice on an experimental systems or theories. After World War Two and the
start of the Cold War the Soviet Union and United States started furnishing
their respective allies with warships but these generally can from transfers of
old construction with the funds received allowing for the purchase of new
construction. However by the 1970s both countries had started to build warships
for export again. One example of a US design built for export was the Kidd
Class destroyers, which were being built for Iran, before the
fall of the Shah ended this contract and the USN bought the four destroyers of
the contract. The Soviet Union also built warships specifically for export.

Project 1159 was one such export warship. In 1977 a new frigate was spotted
in the Black Sea and at first was thought to be replacements for the Riga
Class frigates built in the 1950s. The new design was given the
NATO codename Koni Class. The educated guess was wrong, the design
was for export to client states of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union the
frigate was called the Delfin and the
design went into series production. The Soviet navy kept copies in the Black Sea
for use in training crews of the foreign purchasers. The Delfin
was laid down in April 1973 at the Krasney Metalist yard in Zelenodolsk on the
Black Sea as hull #201. The ships were called Storojeve Korabli (SKR)
or Escort or Guard Ships but were analogous to small frigates. Throughout the
production cycle of the different series of Project 1159, the Delfinremained in the Black Sea training foreign crews. In total 14 of these
ships were constructed in four variants. Six of this number were the basic model
1159, code name Koni I. Variants of the design were purchased by
Algeria, Cuba, East Germany (DDR), Libya and Yugoslavia. The first four warships
were of the same design. Delphin, Nerpa
hull #202, laid down on October 2, 1974 and sold to East Germany (DDR). With
East Germany she was renamed Rostock.
The third ship was Kreshet hull #203,
laid down on May 7, 1975 at likewise sold to East Germany, to be renamed Berlin.
The fourth hull was named Sokol, hull
#204, and was laid down July 14, 1976. This ships was sold to Yugoslavia and
became the Split(VRB-31) after the port on the Adriatic. The Krasney Metalist Yard
basically built one of the class per year and a foreign buyer was found, or more
likely, the buyer was found first. The crew was brought to the Black Sea and
trained on the Delfin.

With the fifth ship a variant appeared and the first ships were renamed with
the Koni I NATO codename. The difference came with the buyer. The Koni
I ships were designed for navies of Europe, Russia, East Germany and
Yugoslavia, the Koni II was designed for warm water navies.
Operations in a warm environment, changed the appearance of the ship to a
certain extent. However, two more of the basic 1159 Koni I ships,
were purchased after the advent of the Koni II. Yugoslavia
purchased an additional Project 1159, which was commissioned in 1982 as the Kopar.
No name was assigned to her by the Russians. Under construction she was known as
hull #205 or SKR-481. The sixth basic
1159 model was a third copy purchased by East Germany. Built between 1984 to
1986, she was hull #206 and called SKR-149,
until commissioned as the Halle. The
initials SKR stood for the Russian ship type Storojevoi Korable. Production for
the last of the ships ended in 1988 and the Delfin
was kept for a while just in case there were more buyers for the design. None
were forthcoming so in 1990 the Delfin
was sold to Bulgaria and was renamed the Smelyy.

Quarter Views & Hull Detail

The Koni I had found buyers with East Germany and Yugoslavia but these
ships would operate in the Baltic and Adriatic. Two new purchasers of the design
came forward and each of them had the same problem. They needed a design that
would be effective in a warm environment. Algeria was the first. Operating on
the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, just north of the Sahara Desert,
special fittings, specifically air conditioning was thought desirable. The other
country was the Cuban navy, which operated in the hot and humid tropical
environment of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. In so many words, Krasney
Metalist said have it your way and designed a variant that would be fitted with
air conditioning for operations in a warm environment. To house the required
equipment a new deckhouse was fitted between the large forward superstructure
and small aft superstructure of the original Project 1159 design. Actually
rather than a deckhouse, it would probably be more accurate to say that the gap
between the two superstructures was filled with new housing. Now the ship ha a
new profile. Instead of having two separate superstructures separated by a
noticeable gap, the new design, called Project 1159T, had one long continuous
superstructure running 60% of the length of the ship. Another subsequent
addition was two sets of twin 533mm torpedo tubes, one on either side of the new
deckhouse. However, not all of the new type was fitted with the tubes. From the
box photograph of Reis Korfo, it is clear
that she had the tubes but photographs of other Project 1159T ships show that no
tubes are present. The new variant was given the NATO codename Koni II.

The fifth hull was to this new 1159T design. The Krasney Metalist hull number
jumped sequence to indicate the new design. The first four 1159 ships were hull
numbers 201 (Delfin) to 204. The fifth hull
was numbered 250. Built between 1979 to 1981 the ship was simply known as SKR-482
by the Soviets and was the first of the class to be not given a Russian name at
the start. This ship was commissioned as the Mourad
Rais in the Algerian Navy. The sixth hull was another 1159T tropical
Koni and was built for Cuba. Hull 251, called SKR-28,
was built between 1979 and 1982 and was commissioned into the Cuban navy as Mariel,
Number 350. Almost immediately the yard picked up an order for a
second Algerian 1159T. Hull number 252, SKR-35,
was built between 1980 to 1982nand was commissioned as the Rais
Kellich. Cuba added her second 1159T in 1981. Hull number 253, SKR-471,
was constructed between 1981 to 1984 and was commissioned as Number
356. A third 1159T (Koni II) was added by Algeria. Built
between 1982 and 1985 as hull 254, SKR-129,
was commissioned as the Reis Korfo. In 1986
Cuba had operated her two 1159T frigates for four years and like Algeria,
thought well enough of the class to add her third frigate in an order. This
ship, hull 255, SKR-201, was built between
1986 to 1988 and was commissioned as the Monkada Number
353. This third Cuban frigate was the sixth and last of the Project
1159T, or Koni II, class frigate to be constructed by Krasney Metalist,
and also happened to be the last of the total of 14 ships of the class to be
order. The next variant of the Koni would come from another source.

The next variant the Project 1159R was not sponsored by Krasney Metalist but
by the wishes of the Yugoslav Navy. They had purchased two of the original 1159
design and named them Split VPB 31 and Kopar
VPB 32. The Yugoslavs wanted to beef up the anti-surface capability of the
design by adopting the PKRK P-20 SSM, NATO Code Name Styx, missile. It was a
fairly straightforward conversion. Four single styx missile canisters with
support structures were added to the rear amidships, two per side. There was no
provision for missile blast deflection so the effects of missile firing could
not have been too good for the ship. Both of the Yugoslav Koni frigates
were so modified and have been called Koni III, although this apparently
was never officially adopted by NATO. Split
was fitted with the styx in 1982 and Kopar
in1984-1985. With the changing political situation in Yugoslavia both ships were
renamed. Split was renamed after the capital
Beograd (Belgrade)and Kopar
became Podgorica.

Hull Detail

The last variant to appear in the Koni series came in 1986. The new
buyer was Colonel Khadafei, leader of Libya. Of course Libya needed the same
machinery for hot weather operations that was fitted with the Koni II
vessels built for Algeria and Cuba, so the same center deckhouse, joining the
forward and aft superstructures in the Koni II, was incorporated in the Koni
IV design. It is interesting to note that in Combat Fleets of the
World 1990-1991, the Libyan vessels are identified as Koni III,
so apparently the Yugoslav modifications to the Koni I did not warrant a
separate designation in the NATO series. However, the Libyan navy liked the
inclusion of the SSMs in the Yugoslav Beograd
modification, because they ordered a missile set for their two frigates. Unlike
the Yugoslavs, who slapped the SSMs on as an afterthought, the last in the Koni
series had them planned into the design from the beginning. The result was the
first reworking of the initial design. The entire forward part of the ship was
completely reworked with a much different appearance than the earlier vessels.
The high angular forward superstructure presents a more imposing appearance than
the earlier design.

The SS-N-2C SSMs were placed up front in two twin canisters with blast
deflection shields incorporated in the design. The sloping superstructure face
behind each missile canister is designed to deflect the missile exhaust out,
away from the ship. Additionally, the single RBU-6000 ASW rocket position,
located on a raised superstructure between the missile positions, is also
protected by blast deflection bulkheads, that angle up and outward from the RBU
deck. They can be seen to good effect on the photograph of Al
Hani found on the box top of the Combrig kit. The Libyan Koni
design eliminated one of the two RBU-6000 mounts so that she could carry the
SSMs as well as two twin 400mm ASW homing torpedo mounts amidships. The CIWS was
two twin 30mm guns. The SS-N-2C missile has almost double the range of the
SS-N-2B (Styx) missiles of the Beograd, 45nm
versus 25nm. However, to use the extended over-the-horizon range of the SS-N-2C,
a forward observer must be present to observe the target and guide the missiles.
Al Hani (212) went in service in the Libyan
Navy on June 28, 1986 and was followed by the Al
Ghardabia (213) on October 23, 1987 to become the largest surface
combatants in the Libyan Navy.

The warships had the following dimensions 311 feet (95m) by 42 feet (12.8m)
by 13.7 feet (4.2m) and displaced 1,700 tons standard and 1,900 tons full load.
Armament for the initial 1159 design was four 76mm (3-Inch) AK-726 guns mounted
in fore and aft twin turrets, two SA-N-4 SAM (Zif-122) with a 20 missile storage
capacity, two 30mm AK-230 30mm gun systems, and two 12-barreled RBU 6000 ASW
rocket mounts forward and depth charge racks aft. The design was also equipped
with mine racks with storage for 20 mines. The Project 1159T (Koni II)
added two twin 533 torpedo mounts. The Project 1159R (Koni III) added
four PKRK P-20 SSM, NATO Code Name Styx SS-N-2B, Missiles in single canisters,
two per side. The two Libyan Project 1159TR (Koni IV) had the four
76.2mm guns AK-726 2x2, four SS-N-2C SSM 2x2, four 400mm ASW torpedo tubes 2x2,
one 12-barreled RBU-6000 ASW rocket launcher, one SAM SA-N-4 system and four
AK-230 CIWS 2x2. The design was equipped with three shafts. For economical
cruising there were the two outer shafts turned by diesel engines of 12,000 shp
combined and to put on speed for combat a centerline gas turbine at 18,000 shp.
Top speed was 22 knots on diesel alone and 27 knots with the gas turbine
running. The two Libyan Koni IV ships had a more powerful machinery
plant, generating 19,000 shp for the centerline gas turbine and a combined
16,000 shp for the two outer diesel driven shafts. As a result the pair have a
maximum speed of 30 knots.

Combrig produces two types of 1:700 scale resin kits, those with or
without photo-etch. Although more and more kits produced by Combrig do
come with photo-etch, the Delfin does
not. The first thing that you notice with the Delfin
is the very pronounced sheer line rising forward towards the bow, as well as the
strong knuckle present where the forward superstructure meets the hull sides.
There are two tear drop fittings on either side of the hull rear amidships. The
incised mine tracks run from the fantail to the forward superstructure. Weapon
bases dominate the deck plan from one twin 76.2 gun mount and two RBU-6000
mounts forward, two CIWS 30mm amidships to the second 76.2 mount and SAM mount
aft. At the hull edge on either side are a series of well-done bollards. The
breakwater forward is a little bit thick. All in all the Combrig Delphin
presents a very clean hull with no defects or damage. Since the kit was designed
to be issued without photo-etch, the hull has three inclined ladders cast as
part of the hull. They really donít qualify as aztec steps since they are not
free standing. Two are flush with the curved bulkheads at the aft end of the
forward superstructure. They can be removed and photo-etched inclined ladders
added but care must be used so as not to damage the bulkheads. A third cast
inclined ladder is in a well behind the forward 76.2mm gun mount. Since it is in
a deep well, I doubt if there would be much to gain by cutting out the resin
inclined ladder and adding photo-etch. A minimal amount of sanding needs to be
done at the waterline.

The smaller fittings are standard for Combrig. All are well cast and
range in quality from good to excellent. The stack, tower mast and gun mounts
are well done but the 76.2mm gun barrels are somewhat thick. The bridge level is
nice with deeply incised windows. They are of such depth that you can use Micro-Klear
to provide glass for these windows. Some of the nicest parts are some of the
smallest. The AK-230 30mm CIWS, capstans, RBU-6000 ASW rocket mounts, cable
reels, capstans and the life canisters are very nice. Since they are resin
parts, the sensor arrays are solid. Gold Medal Models is about to release
their new Soviet/Russian moderns warships fret in 1:700 scale. Although I have
not seen it yet, this fret will undoubtedly be an excellent addition for the Delphin
as well as Combrigís entire lineup of modern Soviet/Russian
warships.

Superstructure & Fittings

The Combrig Reis Korfo

The Combrig Project 1159T Reis Korfo
adds three additional parts to those found in the Combrig Delfin.
Otherwise it is the same model. The additional parts are the new deck house and
two 533mm torpedo mounts. The new deck house piece simply fits between the
forward and aft superstructures on the original hull casting. From a
manufacturing stand point it is simple and logical for Combrig to just
add a single piece for the deck house rather than redesign the hull casting to
include the additional feature. The only thing that it means to the modeler is
that there small seams to be filled where the new piece abuts the hull casting.
Additionally with the original change of design the life raft canisters had to
be relocated. With the 1159 (Koni I) these were place on the rear
bulkhead of the forward superstructure but with the 1159T (Koni II) there
was no longer any forward superstructure,. The life raft canisters were now
placed on either side and at the top of the new deckhouse, overhanging the deck
below. If you look at the photograph of the Reis Korfo
on the box cover, you will notice that there are supports coming up from the
main deck to the canister fittings. Youíll have to add these supports with
wire or rod. However, in the Project 1159T ships that were not fitted with
torpedo tubes, the life raft canisters were located along the base of the new
deckhouse, rather than at the top.

The Combrig Beograd

The Combrig Project 1159R Beograd
is the same kit as the Project 1159 Delfin
with the addition of 22 resin parts. Actually 16 of these are the very delicate
support posts for the Styx missile canisters, 4 missile canisters and two AK-230
CIWS in lieu of the AK-630 CIWS in the Delfin.
The AK-230 is a two barreled 30mm gun mount as opposed to the six barreled
AK-630 gattling arrangement. The missile canisters are very prominent. To check
the instructions as well as fit of the parts the Beograd
kit was completely assembled from the box. Get white glue, as positioning the
parts can be a problem. The build is easy by following the instructions, except
for a few crucial parts. Start with the bridge and base for the tower mast.
There are no locator pins or placement outline on the parts. The profile on the
first page of the instructions is the key. The superstructure pinches inward in
two right angle steps. Place the mast base first with the rear face in alignment
of the rear faces of the second step inward on the hull. Position it so the
walkways on either side of this deckhouse are equal on either side. This is why
white glue is beneficial. It gives you time to position this part before drying.
This is the key step as the bridge is flush with the forward face of this
deckhouse. The pylon for the Bass-Tilt guidance radar for the CIWS presents a
similar problem. There is no location pin. Again the best source for correct
positioning is the profile on the front page of the instructions, which is the
same 1:700 scale as the model. Notice that this tower is closer to the funnel
than the superstructure. The same situation occurs with the two reels on the
quarterdeck. With no locator marks on the deck, you must rely on the profile, as
there is no plan in the Beograd
instructions, for placement.

Oddly enough, placement of a few things seem obvious and simple but are more
difficult because of the lack of locator pins. The Bass Tilt radar platform is
obviously centered on the platform but it took more time than I anticipated. I
would adjust it in one dimension only to see that it was now off in another.
Again, use white glue to give you needed time for adjustments. The same applies
to AK-230 which are on platforms amidships. Not only should be centered from top
down but also centered on the pylon from the side. After it dried, I noticed
that one of mine was not centered on the pylon, to my regret. The platform on
the bridge roof can be a problem unless you use white glue. There is a shield on
the platform that should be centered to the rear and youíll need time to make
adjustments. I found the supports provided in the kit for the missile canisters
to be too fragile because of their fineness and used stretched sprue for the
supports of three of the four canisters. I tried two ways of mounting the
canister. One was to affix the supports to the deck and then attach the canister
to the supports, however, the second method was easier. Attach the supports to
the canister, let dry and then the whole assembly to the deck. Iíll have to
redo some of the supports on my model because they were not parallel to each
other. As with the other items, there are no locator pins for the supports, so
carefully follow the profile on the instructions. Notice that the pair of
canisters forward are pitched at a slightly higher angle than those to their
rear.

Armament & Sensors

The Combrig Al Hani

Since the bulk of the model of the Al Hani
is the same as the three preceding variants in the Koni series, the Al
Hani model generally possesses the same features. However, the
mounting of the two SS-N-2C missile canisters will be far easier than the four
SS-N-2B missile canisters found on the Beograd.
The SS-N-2C canisters have their large deck mounts cast as part of the missile
canisters, so there is no need of experimenting with different lengths of
supports to get the correct angles as found in the Beograd
kitís SS-N-2B single missile canisters. One other difference of note with the Al
Hani is the blast deflection bulkheads that flank the RBU-6000 mount,
situated between the two missile canisters. The instructions were not clear as
to how these were placed but an examination of the photograph on the Al
Hani box top clearly shows that they are angled outward from the edge
of the RBU-6000 deck. One complication is the presence of a light tripod
mainmast with the Al Hani. Combrig
does not provide parts for this, so it will have to be scratch-built from thin
rod using the profile in the instructions as a template.

Instructions

The instructions for the Delfin are
in the standard format for Combrig 1:700 scale kits. One side has a 1:700
scale plan and profile that augments the assembly of the Delfin.
There are separate paragraphs for listing the technical specifications of the
ship, history of the Delfin and
painting instructions. All of the text, except for a subtitle in English, is in
Russian. The second page has a photograph of the parts included in the kit and
the standard isometric assembly diagram. Since the Delfin
is a fairly simple and straightforward model to build, I originally didnít
notice any problems or pitfalls to be encountered in following the Combrig
instructions. In dry-fitting the parts for photographing, I noticed that you had
to consult the plan in the instructions to determine the exact placement of the
bridge and tower mast base. There are no placement markings or indicator holes.
For the unwary, this could be a pitfall. I took a number of photographs of the
dry-fitted model with the bridge face flush with the forward edge of the
superstructure before I realized that the bridge was set back a significant
distance to the rear of the superstructureís forward edge. At least I
discovered this in dry-fitting the parts rather than during actually attaching
the parts together.

As noted in the material on the assembly of the Beograd,
there are some possible pitfalls because of lack of locator pins for some of the
parts. However, if you know in advance the problems and what to look for, there
should be no problem after using a little diligence. However, the omission of a
plan to go with the profile is unfortunate because a top down view could be very
beneficial.

Instructions

Verdict

The Combrig Delfin is a good kit that
undoubtedly be able to be enhanced with the arrival of the GMM modern
Russian/Soviet photo-etched fret. The great attraction of this model is its
flexibility. With this one kit you can portray frigates of the navies of East
Germany (DDR), Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and even Bulgaria. So it is time to fleet-up
your Warsaw Pact allies. With the Project 1159 (Koni I) youíre
Soviet Black Sea and Baltic fleets can have some eager allies as well earn a few
rubles for further investment in the naval construction infrastructure.

Now with the Combrig Reis Korfo, Project
1159T, Code name Koni II, two new navies can make their appearance. You
can have your own Algerian frigates patrolling the shores of the old Barbary
pirates or have one of Fidelís finest patrolling against cigar smugglers.
Either way, the Combrig Reis Korfu with her
long superstructure does present a significantly different profile from the
original Project 1159 Delfin.

When you take the next step with the Combrig Beograd,
Project 1159R, Koni III, youíll be able to add the missile muscle to
allow your Yugoslav Navy to cruise the Adriatic with pride. Also those Styx
canisters give the Beograd a unique look,
significantly different for the other variants.

With the CombrigAl Hani you can
model the last variant in the Koni design evolution. The Reis
Korfu, Koni II Project 1159T, and Beograd,
Koni III Project 1159R just added additional structures and fittings to
the original design. With the Al Hani, Koni IV
Project 1159TR, you get the model of the ultimate variant in the series with and
entirely reworked forward superstructure. The large angular bridge gives this
variant a more massive appearance than the earlier variants. Plus, any modeler
has to like the looks of the rounded, slab-sided SSM canisters in front of the
bridge. There is no question that the redesigned bridge also makes the Al
Hani the most visually distinctive variant in the Koni series.
One last distinction for the Al Hani that
should appeal to the modeler is the camouflage scheme as shown on the box top
photograph of the kit. The Al Hani was
painted in a light gray and dark gray camouflage scheme that is so different in
the modern monotone paint schemes of modern warships.